Photo Credit: Tachina Lee on Unsplash
by LaKenya Johnson
Voices from my past sneer, "You're good, just not good enough." While others jeer, “You think you’re so special, but you’re not!” And yet, I know that's nothing that any one of my loved ones would actually say to or about me. But I have managed to make them a ventriloquist accusing me of things, fearing their reactions, magnifying their disappointment in me, all to the point of trying to please some unidentified mean monster.
While participating in the One Life Maps Virtual Workshop, my coach asked, “Can you identify the characteristics of God's interactions with you? I wonder if you can be specific about it to bring His voice into more conscious focus so that you can respond more reflexively to His voice of love for you.”
I responded, “God’s interactions start and end in truth, love, and grace. He convicts, not shames. He encourages, not coddles. He expects me to struggle and to wrestle with my next steps, but He nudges me in the direction of courage. He doesn't repeat instructions, but He sometimes graciously allows me to sort out what it means to move in the direction of faith and not be imprisoned in fear.”
I’m sorting out my story. Responding to God’s voice over all else requires that I be able to recognize whose voice is speaking. Truth is, I am not enough and I don’t need to be. Jesus is all the enough I need.
Questions to Ponder:
Scripture:
Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children.
1 John 3:1 (Voice)
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